Heavy alcohol use linked to post-operative complications

There is more to alcoholism than ruining health, destroying relationships, and inflicting severe emotional and financial damage! The findings of a new study indicate that it may also be responsible for postoperative complications.

According to experts, people who ingest more than a couple of alcoholic drinks every day increase the likelihood of developing complications after surgery than teetotalers or light drinkers.

Little is known about what impact cessation of drinking prior to the procedure would have on postoperative complications. However, studies have determined that prolonged exposure to liquor before being operated on can slow wound healing and weaken a patient’s immune system making the body more vulnerable to infections.

Review of 55 studies
The study was designed to assess the impact an individual’s drinking habits may have on his recovery. Researchers reviewed the results of 55 studies on alcohol’s effect on complications occurring up to 30 days after surgery. The studies focused on head and neck, abdominal and orthopedic surgeries for a variety of conditions (none related to alcoholism).

The analysis revealed alcoholic patients or those given to binging before the operation doubled their odds of dying within a month of the procedures as opposed to those who abstained. The danger of death varied greatly bу procedure.

Additionally, those inclined to heavy drinking were 73 percent more likely to develop infections, 80 percent more likely to have difficulty breathing and 29 percent more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit than their non-alcoholic counterparts.

Though the findings of the study indicate that proactive interventions for alcoholics could potentially decrease the need for costly postoperative resources and improve patient outcomes, very few are offered specific stop-drinking programs.

“In my opinion, it is now time to focus on intervention studies (randomized trials) to evaluate the effects of stop-drinking in relation to surgery,” Eliasen said.

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